The Bonding (The Song and the Rhythm) (7 page)

Sean wondered vaguely how Dart could keep betting when all he did was lose and also how he paid off all his losses because he’d been losing all day. No one had as yet passed out. Sean couldn’t remember if the brown-haired elf had ever won. Walking behind the two cousins, he saw how Dart managed it. As he handed Rush three silver coins, the blond elf quietly and delicately put more into the money pouch at his cousin’s side. The youth smiled half-cheerfully and returned to watching his surroundings, not knowing why he felt compelled to act as rear guard. Surely, Dart’s sharp grey eyes and ears would find trouble long before he could. Besides, they were still hours from the portal between the worlds, so there really shouldn’t be any danger.

Sean took a deep, calming breath. Letting it out slowly, he kept his eyes on the ground as he spoke to Thorne. “It’s just that…I feel I shouldn’t be here. And I also feel that I should. I still can’t understand why you chose me and not someone else. I’m sure there are people a lot more…qualified. I keep wondering why you came here, to this world, to get an extra companion and aren’t using someone from your own. I even know some people in this world who could help you much better than I can. I mean, look at me. I’m small for my age. I’m not very strong. I’m not as clever as I like to think I am. I don’t think you made the right choice.”

Sean let out an exasperated sigh. “Sure, I want to go. I want to go so badly I’d kill for the chance, but I’m not sure I was meant to go. I’ve never been without the things of this world. I know you told me that because of my love for fantasy I can better adjust to your world, but I’m not so sure you’re right. I don’t know how I’ll react to not having a bathroom, or a hot meal, or a nice bed to sleep in. I don’t know if I can handle walking everywhere we go. I just don’t know if I can do it.”

Thorne was quiet several minutes before he responded to Sean’s distress. “I think I know how you feel, and all I c’n tell you is I felt ’bout the same when we began this journey. I’ve traveled many different lands. When Merdel first came t’me, I, too, doubted I could do what he asked o’ me. He said we’d be goin’ places I’d ne’er been, and the stories I’ve heard about these places’d frighten the strongest knight.

“But I knew I was needed, so I came. I conquered m’ fears and doubts, and you should do the same. There’s no shame in admittin’ fear, only in succumbin’ to it.” The dwarf looked hard at the side of Sean’s head, since the youth wouldn’t meet his eyes. “Believe me, Sean, anyone can lose his self-confidence. At first, I did no want to journey to this world, it bein’ so different from my own. But I knew ’twas needed to prove the truth t’you, so I came. Remember, lad, we’re here to help and guide you, and knowin’ that at least one of us felt as you feel should boost your confidence some, eh?” The dwarf finished with a smile and resumed watching the road ahead.

Sean walked with his head down as he thought over what the dwarf had told him. He believed Thorne to be sincere, for he’d always seemed very honest when they’d talked before. He did find it hard to believe that the dwarf who acted so self-confident could have been troubled by self-doubt. But he figured that, as Thorne had said, it must strike everyone at one time or another, so it was only natural. Besides, Thorne had conquered his fear, and Sean knew he must do the same if he wanted to survive this adventure.

The dwarf chuckled. “Don’t ponder o’er my words too long, Sean, or you’ll find I’m full of horse dung.”

Ribald laughter answered this wry comment, revealing that the others had been listening to Thorne’s effort at instructing Sean, and the good humor that followed helped to bring Sean out of his black mood.

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As he changed from his modern clothes into those given him by his new companions, Sean pondered the changes he’d experienced since Drath stepped around that oak tree, as well as the tremendous change waiting on the other side of those identical pine trees. He still wondered why he believed their outrageous story, concluding that the most convincing evidence was the presence of the three non-humans. They had allowed him to verify their features were not prosthetic, though Dart had smilingly claimed to be deeply offended.

Sean was not yet accustomed to seeing them and kept rubbing his eyes to clear them every time one of the elves’ long, pointed ears poked up from beneath his hair. In addition to their ears, their slightly olive skin made them appear the most foreign of the whole group, Thorne’s only non-human aspects being his extreme shortness and overall gnarled features. He appeared carved from the very rocks he claimed were his home and had the gruff bluntness of a mountain. But he seemed as reliable as one, too.

Sean found he liked the dwarf immensely, especially in contrast to the two sly elves. Talking to them was slippery and sometimes annoying, and their stories were usually hilarious, though hard to believe. The musical lilt to their voices made them easy to listen to and counteracted Thorne’s deep bass.

He knew Drath truly wanted to be his friend, for the regard he’d shown over his bad dreams and the helpful advice he’d given him during the three days of their trek to the portal had convinced the young man of that. Merdel always approached him on a more intellectual level, for he asked all sorts of probing questions. He didn’t seem any less concerned for Sean’s well-being, for the advice he gave him usually helped. He’d also presented the best arguments when Sean had wondered and worried if he should leave.

Merdel’s brow had knit. “At the risk of sounding obnoxious and rude, who would miss you?” The mage had tried to grin a little to take the sting out, but to Sean he succeeded only in looking like a wizard who believed he had all the answers. Unfortunately, Merdel had a very valid point. Sean was, after all, in school almost five hundred miles from home, and his parents didn’t expect him to contact them as often, now that he was beginning his junior year.

Thorne, Rush, and Dart had not said as much to him since he’d met them, though Thorne’s admission had helped boost his self-confidence tremendously. They had all expressed their desire for him to join their quest, and even the elves had shown more than a little concern over his anxieties. They kept reassuring him they prayed regularly to the Great God for him to grow stronger. One day, they were going to have to tell him who this Great God was. Merdel and the elves spoke of Him with reverence and obvious belief, while Thorne made sport of them for being foolish. Drath simply avoided the topic.

Drawing on his wool trousers and tucking in his shirttail, Sean found they fit well enough, though might wear better with a belt. He pulled his boots on and worked his feet side to side, trying to loosen the stiff, new leather. He found everything fit quite well and was pleased that nothing hindered his movements in any way.

He placed the throwing dagger Dart had given him in the top of his right boot, and the other he tied at his left side. He thought again how much an extra belt would help. Checking himself over, he hoped he looked nice decked out in his favorite charcoal grey and wished he had a mirror so he could see all of himself at once. Pleased with his new clothing, he picked up his gloves and tucked them into the waistline of his pants, for their thick warmth was not needed now. The woolen material had already begun to feel hot.

“When our good Vaun Tarsus deigns to join us,” Sean heard Merdel say wryly, “we will depart.” He found he liked hearing his new name, and was glad his friends had not thought him odd when he said he wanted to use it.

Vaun came around the broad pine tree with his sword in hand, muttering about the sword belt being too short, and that he really needed another one for his waist. He hefted the belt over his right shoulder and under his left arm, cinching it tightly and discovering it was just long enough to fit properly. Adjusting its position on his shoulder, he looked up at his companions and started in surprise at their open-mouthed stares.

Vaun glanced hurriedly down at himself. “What? Did I do something wrong?”

Merdel looked dumbfounded. “N…no.” He could say no more.

“Will you all stop looking at me like that, then?”

They obeyed, taking their eyes off the sword hilt rising above Vaun’s right shoulder and looking to the wizard for further instructions. Merdel turned to the two trees behind him and began chanting.

Vaun watched intently but saw nothing happen. The bearded wizard stopped after several minutes. “I have the Word.”

Vaun raised his eyebrows. “Word?”

“I will tell you a Word, and you must say it as you walk between the trees. It will open the portal for you, and only you, and then you can walk through it.” Merdel raised one finger warningly. “Whatever you do, don’t stop until you come out.” He then told them the Word, and Vaun doubted he could pronounce it.

The six adventurers lined up single file, the two elves first, Drath second, Vaun next, then Merdel, with Thorne last. Drath assured the youth that everything would be fine, but Vaun was still frightened. After all, experiencing magic was a bit different than reading about it.

*
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As they walked slowly toward the portal, Merdel stared at the sword draped across Vaun’s back. He wondered at it, for no man but a Swordsman wore his sword on his back. Those idiot words from that fool’s text sprang immediately to mind, and the wizard thought that maybe he was the idiot fool for disregarding them so casually. The Great God’s voice from his dreams came to him, too, making him beg a hasty forgiveness for being stubbornly doubtful.

*
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*

Vaun watched, astonished, as first Rush, then Dart, and finally Drath disappeared between the two trees, a faint flash of light accompanying their departure. They did not come out the other side.

The youth stopped briefly in uncertainty, then spoke the Word. He stepped forward into a light so bright he was nearly blinded, and a loud rushing filled his ears. He wondered if he were going to make it, or if he should.

5

A cool breeze whispered through the tall grass,
promising the advent of a cold, though not harsh winter. The rolling, grass-covered hills stretched for miles in all directions, with trees dotting their sides in splashes of red, yellow, orange, and a little green. High overhead, birds fled the coming cold, urging each other with shrill calls to hurry before the snows came. All around, small animals darted and ran, chittering to each other about how far away winter seemed.

The sun looked down upon the earth, providing scant warmth for the six adventurers who walked through the tall grass, though it wasn’t overly cold yet. By the position of the fiery star, the leading pair of the party argued over the time, one approximating it to be two hours until sundown, the other three.

Rush turned back to the tall, bearded wizard walking behind them and asked his opinion of the time. Merdel thought for a moment as he glanced up at the sun and agreed with the blond elf that it was two hours until sunset. Rush thanked Merdel politely and turned to his brown-haired cousin, smiling and opening his left palm before him. Dart frowned, disappointed, but dug into his pouch and handed him three coins, their silver surfaces flashing in the dying sunlight. The bearded mage was never wrong about the time.

Both elf travelers wore dark green cloaks over light brown trousers and shirts the same color as their cloaks. Each had a curved shortsword and straight dagger belted at his waist, and one was obviously left-handed. They talked incessantly in high, musical voices as they walked. One, the left-hander, also carried a bow slung over one shoulder and quiver of arrows on his back. Neither was more than two inches over five feet tall, and each possessed similar sharply angled features and long, pointed ears, looking more like brothers than cousins.

The wizard, just over six feet tall, wore both trousers and shirt of a light grey, and carried a long wooden staff in his right hand. He used the still-green wood as a walking stick, though he knew how to use it as a weapon as well. His billowy clothing allowed him to move with almost complete freedom, yet did not catch on any protruding branches or rocks. On his rope belt rested many pouches and small bags, and he wore two large bags slung across his chest, one on each hip, as did both elves. His grey-splotched black hair was swept back into a tail, and his mostly white beard was neatly trimmed.

Behind and to the right of Merdel strolled another taller man with dark brown hair and a clean-shaven, handsome face. A longsword rode at Drath’s left hip, and his dark brown trousers were tucked into knee-high boots of even darker brown leather. He wore a shirt a shade lighter than his trousers and carried a backpack instead of bags.

To his left marched a short, stocky dwarf dressed in dark blue-grey shirt and trousers and wearing a light blue cloak. Thorne stood almost three inches shorter than the two elves, and instead of a sword he carried a large hammer with a spike on its opposite head at his left hip, marking him as also left-handed. His hair and beard were both a light brown, his beard reaching to the top of his chest, and he carried a large bag at his right hip, its strap slung diagonally across his chest.

Walking between these last two was a young man clad all in dark grey. His jet black hair touched the collar of his shirt, and despite the coming cold he kept his thick wool gloves tucked inside the waist of his grey pants. His black boots were not quite as high as the tall man’s and were a bit softer.

A dagger protruded out of the top of Vaun’s right boot, and another, larger one rode at his left hip. He carried his sword on his back, its ivory-and-bone hilt sticking out above his right shoulder. Vaun completed the party marching through the hilly grassland and did not let his inexperience keep him from matching the seasoned strides of his companions.

The party remained quiet as they marched, each considering his own thoughts and enjoying the beautiful autumn afternoon. After an hour more of walking, with the sun sinking slowly behind the hills to their right, this band of adventurers halted under a copse of trees to camp for the night.